APW approves five-year residential refuse franchise with LRS; council asks for accountability and cost analysis

The Administration and Public Works Committee voted unanimously on July 14 to approve a five-year residential refuse and yard-waste franchise contract with Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), extending the vendor—s role in both commercial and residential collection under terms staff said will include service-response expectations and incentives for missed collections.

Why it matters: Refuse collection is a day-to-day city service that affects businesses and residents. Committee members cited repeated missed commercial pickups and asked that the new contract and related ordinance changes allow stronger enforcement and accountability.

Contract details and enforcement: Public services leadership told the committee the contract sets response-time expectations for missed collections and service issues (initial response within 24 hours and resolution within 72 hours). Staff said they intend to amend an existing ordinance (Ordinance 8-27-4) that governs the commercial franchise to extend enforcement tools and penalties for residential service in order to hold the vendor more accountable.

Council concerns: Council member Kelly said she has seen repeated missed commercial collections and asked for significant financial penalties or other contract provisions to improve performance. "We do have ordinance 8-27-4 that addresses the commercial franchise...we intend, staff intends to amend that ordinance to to be able to include the residential in there so that we can also assess penalties and hold a little bit more accountable," Public Services Chief Rodriguez said.

In-house option and contract length: Council member Davis asked whether the city had analyzed running refuse collection in house. Staff said no cost analysis had been completed and noted that startup for a municipal collection program (carts, vehicles, staffing) makes short-term contracts impractical. Deputy City Attorney Cynthia Granfield advised the committee that the RFP specified a five-year term and that changing the term now would require reissuing the RFP because contract length was a material term of the solicitation.

Action taken: The committee approved the LRS contract by roll call, 5-0. Staff noted the vendor has indicated it will dedicate additional staff to Evanston and that the commercial franchise already includes incentive language for miscollections that staff expects to apply under the amended ordinance.

Next steps: Staff said they will proceed with ordinance amendments to expand enforcement options and that council could refer a separate, more detailed cost analysis of in-house collection if members want to pursue that option during upcoming budget or operational planning discussions.

Ending: Committee members said they will monitor performance under the new contract and pursue a detailed cost analysis in a separate referral if they wish to evaluate bringing collection back in house.